38 PONTEDEBIACEAE. 



very slender, 4-30 cm. tall, 5-6-ridged: heads spheroidal, 3-5 mm. thiok: 

 bracts of the involucre obtuse: bractlets, sepals, and petals glabrous. Ever- 

 glades and low pinelands. 



FAMILY 3. COMMELINACEAE. SPIDERWORT FAMILY. 



Annual or perennial caulescent succulent herbs. Leaves alternate, 

 sheathing at the base. Flowers perfect, the mostly umbel-like cymes 

 involucrate. Calyx of 3 persistent herbaceous sepals. Corolla of 3 equal 

 or unequal delicate petals. Androecium of 5-6 stamens, sometimes 2 or 3 

 mere staminodia. Gynoecium 2-3-carpellary. Styles united. Fniit a 

 loculicidally 2-3-valved capsule. 



Petals all alike: pollenlferous stamens 6. 1. RHAEO. 



Petals unequal in size and shape: pollenlferous stamens 3 or 2. 2. COMMELIXA. 



1. RHAEO Ilance. Leaves erect or nearly so, stiff, crowded: blades con- 

 tracted above the sheathing base. Cymes congested, borne in an involucre of 

 imbricate boat-like bracts. Petals equal, not clawed. Capsule sessile. 



1. E. discolor (L'Her.) Hance. Leaves 2-4 dm. tall; blades very thi.-k. 

 broadly linear, acute, often purple, especially so beneath : flower-stalks clustered : 

 spathes 3-4 cm. long: petals white or blue, 5-8 mm. long: capsules 4-5 nun. 

 long. Pinelands and cultivated grounds. Nat. of Mex., and cultivated. 

 (Bah., Cuba, Ant.) 



2. COMMELINA [Plum.] L. Leaf-blades spreading, relatively short. 

 Cymes borne in a specialized folded involucre. Perianth irregular. Stamens 

 3 or rarely 2. Capsules hidden in the spathe. DAY-FLOWER. DEW-FLOWER. 



Leaf-blades linear to narrowly linear-lanceolate : leaf-abeatbs glabrous or nearly so. 

 Rootstocks and root* abbreviated, the latter slender-fusi- 

 form : Intel-nodes below the sheath pubescent or scabrous. 1. i'. hninii>ila. 

 Rootstocks and roots elongate, the latter cord-like : Inter- 

 nodes below the sheaths glabrous. 2. C. angtil,,U>i 

 Leaf-blades lanceolate, elliptic or oblong-lanceolate: leaf-sheath 



hirsute. 8. 0. elegant. 



1. O. hamipila Wright. Stem or branches 1-4 dm. long, from a cluster of 

 fusiform roots: leaf-blades linear or narrowly linear-lanceolate, attenuate: 

 ppathe about 2 cm. long, acuminate: capsules about 5 mm. long. [C. Swing- 

 leana Nash.] Pinelands. F. K. (Cuba.) 



2. 0. angustifolia Michx. Stem or branches 2-8 dm. long, from cord-like 

 roots: leaf-blades linear, sometimes narrowly so, flat, attenuate: spathes 2-2.5 

 cm. long, acute or acuminate: capsules 4-5 mm. long. Pinelands. 1 . K. 



S. O. elegana II. B. K. Stem and branches 2-9 dm. long: leaf -blades lanceo- 

 late to elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 4-10 cm. long: spathes 1.5-2 cm. long, 

 acute: capsules about 4 mm. long. Coastal sand-dunes. (Bcr., Bah., Ant.) 



FAMILY 1. PONTEDERIACEAE. Pn KU; i. \\ n .1. FAMILY. 



Bog or aquatic herbs with root stocks. Leaves alternate: blades 

 dilated, narrow, or mere phyllodia. Flowers 1 or several from a bract - 

 like spathe. Calyx and corolla of rather similar partially united members. 

 Androecium of 3-6 stamens: filaments une.|ually adnate to tin- perianth 

 tube. Gynoecium 3-rarpcllary. but MHiietiim-. with a 1 -celled <\ar\. 

 Fruit a 1 -seeded utricle or a many-seeded capsule. 



